Apparatus for electrically disintegrating hypodermic needle

ABSTRACT

A device used to disable hypodermic needles uses a power supply ( 10 ) and two electrodes ( 12,14 ) in a housing. One electrode is placed over the other electrode and slants down towards the other. A collar is used to ensure that when the hypodermic needle is inserted in the device, it will hit the electrodes at the proper point When the hypodermic needle contacts both electrodes, electricity will flow from the power supply through the lower electrode and up the needle to the top electrode. The electrical resistance of the needle is very high so that it quickly heats up to cause disintegration of the needle.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of needle disabling devicesand, more particularly, to the field of needle disabling devices thatuse current to flow through the needle and heat the needle to atemperature that disintegrates the needle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Each year there are a significant number of people, especiallyhealthcare workers, who are infected with blood-borne diseases throughthe inadvertent needle pricks from a hypodermic needle. A needle prickcan lead to a very serious disease. In this connection, because needlepricks provide direct access to the venous system of the individual, itis possible for such person to contact serious diseases, such as AIDS orhepatitis B through an inadvertent needle prick. The most common timefor these needle pricks to occur is when the hypodermic needle is beingprepared for disposal or after actual disposal and in the process ofdestroying said needles. Thus, medical and waste disposal personnel areexposed to a serious risk of injury, infection and disease and evendeath due to contaminated medical instruments such as hypodermics whichare known in the industry as “sharps”.

There are many well-documented cases of injury caused by thesehypodermic needles or sharps, even while the sharp is encased duringtransportation to a waste site and during the process of destroying orburying the waste. Hypodermic needles have caused injuries in landfills, and the needles have even been known to wash up on beaches. Aslong as a needle remains sharp, there is a risk of injury and infection.

The main method of disposal of hypodermic needles today is to depositthe needle in a thick-walled plastic container immediately after use.These containers are then shipped to waste processing sites where theyare typically incinerated. However, during this process, the containerremains very susceptible to puncture. Also, the contaminated sharps orhypodermic needles may injure and infect individuals attempting toinsert the needles into the containers. There are also several healthhazards associated with incineration of the hypodermic needles due tothe toxic byproducts of the incineration. Also, there is always aproblem that these hypodermic needles will escape the medical wastedisposal system and expose many people to health risks.

Thus, one of the objectives of this invention is to provide a devicethat will destroy the “sharps” or the hypodermic needle at the point ofuse. By destroying the hypodermic needle right at use, greatly reducesthe chances of injury for the individual using the needle, and further,it virtually eliminates the possibility of a person being stuck by theneedle in the disposal process or afterwards.

Another objective of this invention is to make the device small andlight weight so that it can be easily used by health care personal,veterinarians, diabetics, etc. Further, an objective of this inventionis to make the device portable and battery operated. The inventor alsowished to make the device easy to operate and easy and inexpensive tomanufacture. There have been numerous attempts in the prior art toproduce a small, light weight, needle-disposing apparatus that could beeasily used by healthcare professionals. Patents have been granted onneedle-disposing apparatuses to Ch'ing-Lung, U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,169,Spinello, U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,934, Perk, U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,124,Burden, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,212,362 and Walker, et al, U.S. Pat. No.528964.

All these patents use electricity to destroy the needle. However, theydiffer from the invention described in this application in that they alluse basically an “arc-welding theory” to “dead short” the needle acrosstwo electrodes. Thus, the needle is actually placed between twoelectrodes, then the electricity flows through the width of the needle.There are several problems created by shorting the needle to destroy it.The first thing, the electrodes must make contact at the very bottom ofthe needle. If the electrodes do not make contact at the very bottom ofthe needle, the needle will be cut into pieces and a large portion ofthe needle may not be destroyed. Thus, in all these patents, either theelectrodes move or, as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,877,934, 5,212,362, and5,513,814, the needle must be moved. Thus, one of the objectives of thisinvention is to create a device for eliminating hypodermic needles thatincorporate stationary electrodes. By making the electrodes stationary,one cuts down on the number of parts used and the complexity of thedesign and, thus, makes the manufacturing of the device easier andcheaper.

Applicant's device does not use the “arc-welding” theory of a dead shortacross the needle to eliminate the needle. Applicant's device uses“resistance” theory. In the applicant's device, the electric does notflow across the width of the needle, but flows up the length of theneedle. When the needle is placed in the device, the electrodes makecontact with the bottom and the top of the stainless steel needle.Electric flows from the bottom electrode to the top electrode throughthe needle, and since the needle is made out of stainless steel, it isvery high in resistance. Thus, the needle heats and disintegrates. Thisprocess is almost instantaneous. This process also eliminates anotherproblem caused by the dead-short or arc-weld theory. In the dead-shortor arc-weld theory, the electric is transferred across the width of theneedle and only a small portion of the needle is heated to thetemperature to disintegrate at a time. This means that the needle isdisintegrated one point of the time. Points above the needle end whereit is being disintegrated are not treated to a high temperature. Thiscould cause aerosols to be created by liquids or solids left on theneedle. The invention described in this application treats the wholeneedle immediately to a high temperature and immediately kills any germsor viruses that may be present on the needle.

Another unique feature of this invention which the inventor has notfound in the prior art is the collar in which the needle is insertedinto the device. This collar has been designed to accept any type ofhypodermic needle the inventor knows of on the market. The collar hasalso been designed to ensure the syringe with the needle will stop at aspecific point on the electrode so that it will be fully disintegrated.As I stated above, one of the problems with the prior art is the needlecan be inserted too far within the machine and be cut off or cut into apiece and not fully disintegrated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a device used to disable hypodermic needles ofthe type currently being used by the medical industry, veterinarians,diabetics, drug abusers, and others. The device has three main parts: apower supply and two electrodes. One electrode is placed over the otherand slants down towards the other. The device also has a housing for theelectrodes and the power supply, and a collar that ensures that when thehypodermic needle is inserted into the device, it will hit theelectrodes at the proper point. To use, one places a hypodermic needlein the collar and slowly rocks the hypodermic in the collar. Thehypodermic needle first makes contact with the top electrode, and thenas it moves down, it makes contact with the bottom electrode. Theelectricity from the power supply flows through the bottom electrode, upthe hypodermic needle to the top electrode. The resistance of thehypodermic needle is very, very high. Thus, the electric flowing throughthe hypodermic needle quickly heats the hypodermic needle to atemperature where the needle disintegrates. The collar and theelectrodes have been designed to keep the needle syringe positioned soit can be disabled without the possibility that it can be pushed too farinto the electrodes. The collar has also been designed to accept allsizes of syringes presently on the market.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top view of the invention with the top of the housingremoved.

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of one of the electrodes of the invention.

FIG. 2B is a top view of one of the electrodes of the invention.

FIG. 2C is a front view of one of the electrodes of the invention.

FIG. 2D is a side view of one of the electrodes of the invention.

FIG. 2E is a side perspective view of one of the electrodes of theinvention.

FIG. 3A is a perspective view of the other electrode of the invention.

FIG. 3B is a top view of the other electrode of the invention.

FIG. 3C is a front view of the other electrode of the invention.

FIG. 3D is a side view of the other electrode of the invention.

FIG. 3E is a side perspective view of the other electrode of theinvention.

FIG. 4A is a top view of one of the collar of the invention.

FIG. 4B is a side view of the collar of the invention.

FIG. 4C is the opposite side view of the collar of the invention.

FIG. 4D is a side perspective view of one of the collar of the FIG. 5 isa top view of the invention with the top of the housing in place.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows the invention with the top of the housing removed. FIG. 1shows the three main parts of the invention. FIG. 1 shows the powersupply 10 which in the preferred embodiment is comprised of twobatteries 11 and 15. FIG. 1 also shows the two electrodes 12 and 14. Thebatteries 11 and 15 are hooked to the two electrodes 12 and 14 bypositive wire 16 and negative wire 18. Positive wire 16 hooks to thepositive terminal 22 of the battery 11 and runs to electrode 14.Negative wire 18 is hooked to the negative terminal 21 of the battery 15and runs to electrode 12. Also shown in FIG. 1 is the bottom half of thehousing 17 of the invention 20. Hooked into the circuit between thebatteries positive terminal 22 and electrode 12 on wire 16 is a fuse 24.The device runs on 12 volts. Also in the preferred embodiment, thedevice can not only be run from the batteries 11 and 15, but also from a12 volt power supply. This could be a standard 12 volt wall transformer.FIG. 1 shows a jack 26 which is where a standard wall transformer couldbe plugged. The jack 26 is hooked to the two electrodes 12 and 14 bypositive wire 28 and negative wire 30. The device can be run by anystandard wall transformer that produces 12 volt DC around 30 amps.

FIGS. 2A, B, C, D and E show electrode 12. FIG. 2A is a perspective viewof electrode 12. FIG. 2B is a top view of electrode 12. FIG. 2C is afront view of electrode 12. FIG. 2D is a side view of electrode 12 andFIG. 2E is another side view showing the angle of electrode 12. FIG. 2Eshows that the front surface of electrode 12 slants downward at an angleof 30 degrees. The front surface, however, does not come to a point atthe bottom, but is slightly truncated forming a ridge 21. At the bottom,this ridge 21 is also angled as shown in the front view in FIG. 2C. Thisridge 21 in the preferred embodiment is angled at 2 degrees. The ridge21 gets larger as you move from the front of the device 10 back towardsthe batteries 11 and 15. Electrode 12 is the negative electrode.

FIG. 3A, B, C, D, and E show electrode 14, the positive electrode. FIG.3A is a perspective view of electrode 14. FIG. 3B is the top view ofelectrode 14. FIG. 3C is a front view of electrode 14. FIG. 3D is a sideview of electrode 14. FIG. 3E shows the electrode from a sideperspective view. This view shows some of the bottom of electrode 14. InFIG. 3A, one can see that the front of electrode 14 slants downward.Electrode 14 does not slant downward to a point just above the bottom ofthe electrode. Electrode 14 is also truncated. However the truncatedportion also has a portion of the electrode 14 cut out from the bottomforming ridge 30. FIG. 3C, the front view of the electrode 14 shows theridge 30 running from a point near the top of the electrode to a pointon the other side of the electrode near the bottom. This ridge 30 in thepreferred embodiment slants at approximately 13 degrees. FIG. 3E showsthat the top portion of the electrode 14 is cut at an angle ofapproximately 30 degrees. In the preferred embodiment, this ridge isapproximately 0.037 inches thick.

When the electrodes 12 and 14 are placed in the housing as shown in FIG.1, the electrodes 12 and 14 overlap each other in the preferredembodiment by 0.029 inches. The electrodes 12 and 14 aligned such thatwhen the needle is placed into collar 32 and into the device, the needlewill make contact with both electrodes 12 and 14.

FIG. 4A, B, C, and D shows the collar 32 of the invention. FIG. 4A showsthe top view of the collar 32 of the invention. FIG. 4A shows that thecollar 32 is basically cylindrical in shape with an opening 34 at thebottom. The opening 34 at the bottom is an ellipse with the sidesslightly bowed out from a normal ellipse. FIG. 4B shows a side view ofthe collar 32 with the open area forming the center of the collar 32 inphantom. This shows that the collar 32 is cylindrical at the top;however, near the bottom, the collar 32 opening is conical. FIG. 4C isthe opposite side of the collar 32, and it shows that the opening 34 atthe bottom of the collar moves up the side of the collar on this side.The opening 34 forms a slight arch-type structure. FIG. 4D is aperspective view of the collar 32 that shows the cylindrical opening atthe top and the arch-type opening at the one side, and also in phantom,shows the opening 34 at the bottom of the collar. The opening 34 at thebottom of the collar has been designed to accept any size of hypodermicknown by the inventor and to place that hypodermic at the right point onthe electrodes 12 and 14 so that the needle will be fully disintegrated.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the invention. In FIG. 5 one can see the collar32 which is where the needle end of the hypodermic needle is placed. Thecollar 32 is positioned on the housing 10 such that when the needle endof the hypodermic is placed in the collar 32 the needle will makecontact with the electrodes 12 and 14 and be destroyed. FIG. 5 also showthe jack 26 into which a 12 volt power supply such as a 12 volt walltransformer could be attached. The power supply hooked to the jack 26could be used to power the electrodes 12 and 14 or the charge thebatteries 11 and 15.

To use the invention, one places the needle end of a hypodermic needlein the collar 32 and slowly rocks the hypodermic in the collar 32. Thehypodermic needle first makes contact with electrode 14, and then as itmoves down, it makes contact with electrode 12. The electricity from thepower supply 10 flows through electrode 12, up the hypodermic needle toelectrode 14. The resistance of the hypodermic needle is very, veryhigh. Thus, the electric flowing through the hypodermic needle quicklyheats the hypodermic needle to a temperature where the needledisintegrates.

Changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments canbe carried out without departing from the scope of the invention whichis intended to be limited only by the scope of the appending claims.

1. Needle disabling device comprising: A. a housing; and, B. an openingin the housing that is of sufficient size that a hypodermic needle canfit through; and, C. a bottom electrode within the housing; and, D. atop electrode within the housing; and, E. said top and bottom electrodesare aligned such within the housing below the opening that when a needleis placed through the opening the electrodes make contact with theneedle and said top electrode makes contact with the needle above apoint at which the bottom electrode makes contact with the needle; and,F. a power supply connected to the electrodes such that when the needleis placed through the opening and makes contact with the top and bottomelectrodes, the current from the power supply flows to one of theelectrodes and then through the needle to the other electrode and saidelectrical energy is of sufficient power that when it flows through theneedle, it causes the needle to disintegrate.
 2. A needle disablingdevice as in claim 1 wherein: A. the top and bottom electrodes arestationary.
 3. A needle disabling device as in claim 1 wherein: A. Thepower supply is a battery.
 4. A needle disabling device comprising: A. ahousing; and, B. atop electrode; and, C. a bottom electrode; and, D. anopening in the housing that is over the electrodes such that when aneedle is placed through the opening, the metal end of the needle willmake contact with both electrodes; and, E. a power supply attached toboth electrodes and said power supply is of ample power that it willproduce sufficient amount of energy to the electrodes so such that whena needle is placed in contact with both electrodes and completes thecircuit, the needle will be disintegrated; and, F. a collar adapted tofit within the opening and said collar is adapted such that it willalign many sizes of needles such that when the needle is placed withinthe collar, the needle will make contact with both electrodes in such away that the needle will be fully disintegrated when the power from thepower supply is allowed to flow through the electrodes.
 5. A needledisabling device as in claim 4 wherein: A. the top and bottom electrodesare stationary.
 6. Needle disabling device comprising: A. a housing;and, B. an opening in the housing that is of sufficient size that ahypodermic needle can fit through; and, C. a bottom electrode shaped asa truncated triangular prism with its front surface slanting downward tothe point of truncation forming a ridge and this ridge, as you movealong its surface gets smaller and said electrode is within the housing;and, D. a top electrode within the housing; and, E. said top and bottomelectrodes are aligned such within the housing below the opening thatwhen a needle is placed through the opening and both electrodes makecontact with the needle; and, F. a power supply connected to theelectrodes such that when the needle is placed through the opening andmakes contact with the top and bottom electrodes, the current from thepower supply flows to one of the electrodes and then through the needleto the other electrode and said electrical energy is of sufficient powerthat when it flows through the needle, it causes the needle todisintegrate.
 7. A needle disabling device as in claim 6 wherein: A. thetop and bottom electrodes are stationary.
 8. Needle disabling devicecomprising: A. a housing; and, B. an opening in the housing that is ofsufficient size that a hypodermic needle can fit through; and, C. Abottom electrode within the housing; and, D. a top electrode that isshaped like a truncated triangular prism and the electrodes surfaceslants downward to the point of truncation forming a ridge and thisridge becomes the surface of the electrode so that when the needle isplaced in the opening in the housing and makes contact with bothelectrodes, the needle will make contact with the ridge of thiselectrode, and said ridge slants downward towards the bottom electrodeand said top electrode is within the housing; and, E. said top andbottom electrodes are aligned such within the housing below the openingthat when a needle is placed through the opening and both electrodesmake contact with the needle; and, F. a power supply connected to theelectrodes such that when the hypodermic needle is placed through theopening and makes contact with the top and bottom electrodes, thecurrent from the power supply flows to one of the electrodes and thenthrough the hypodermic needle to the other electrode and said electricalenergy is of sufficient power that when it flows through the needle, itcauses the needle to disintegrate.
 9. A needle disabling device as inclaim 1 wherein: A. the top and bottom electrodes are stationary.
 10. Aneedle disabling device as in claim 1 wherein: A. the power supply isfully contained within the housing.
 11. A needle disabling device as inclaim 1 wherein: A. the power supply is outside the housing.
 12. Aneedle disabling device as in claim 11 further comprising: A. a secondpower supply is which is fully contained within the housing
 13. A needledisabling device as in claim 10 wherein: A. the power supply can berecharged from a source outside the housing.
 14. A needle disablingdevice as in claim 12 wherein: A. the second power supply can berecharged from a source outside the housing.
 15. A needle disablingdevice as in claim 13 wherein: A. the power supply is rechargeablebatteries.
 16. A needle disabling device as in claim 14 wherein: A. thesecond power supply is rechargeable batteries.
 17. A needle disablingdevice as in claim 1 further comprising: A. a collar that fits withinthe opening and said collar has an aperture at its bottom such that whenthe needle is placed within the collar, the needle will pass through theaperture, and the needle will make contact with the electrodes in such away that the needle will be fully disintegrated when the power from thepower supply is allowed to flow through the electrodes.
 18. A needledisabling device as in claim 17 wherein: A. the aperture is designedsuch that many sizes of needles can be placed with the collar and theneedle will pass through the aperture and the needle will make contactwith the electrodes in such a way that the needle will be fullydisintegrated when the power from the power supply is allowed to flowthrough the electrodes
 19. A needle disabling device as in claim 4wherein: A. said top electrode makes contact with the needle above apoint at which the bottom electrode makes contact with the needle.
 20. Aneedle disabling device as in claim 4 wherein: A. the power supply isfully contained within the housing.
 21. A needle disabling device as inclaim 4 wherein: A. the power supply is outside the housing.
 22. Aneedle disabling device as in claim 21 further comprising: A. a secondpower supply is which is fully contained within the housing
 23. A needledisabling device as in claim 20 wherein: A. the power supply can berecharged from a source outside the housing.
 24. A needle disablingdevice as in claim 22 wherein: A. the second power supply can berecharged from a source outside the housing.
 25. A needle disablingdevice as in claim 23 wherein: A. the power supply is rechargeablebatteries.
 26. A needle disabling device as in claim 24 wherein: A. thesecond power supply is rechargeable batteries.
 27. A needle disablingdevice as in claim 6 wherein: A. The power supply is a battery.
 28. Aneedle disabling device as in claim 6 wherein: A. the power supply isfully contained within the housing.
 29. A needle disabling device as inclaim 6 wherein: A. the power supply is outside the housing.
 30. Aneedle disabling device as in claim 29 further comprising: A. a secondpower supply is which is fully contained within the housing.
 31. Aneedle disabling device as in claim 28 wherein: A. the power supply canbe recharged from a source outside the housing.
 32. A needle disablingdevice as in claim 30 wherein: A. the second power supply can berecharged from a source outside the housing.
 33. A needle disablingdevice as in claim 31 wherein: A. the power supply is rechargeablebatteries.
 34. A needle disabling device as in claim 32 wherein: A. thesecond power supply is rechargeable batteries.
 35. A needle disablingdevice as in claim 6 further comprising: A. a collar that fits withinthe opening and said collar has an aperture at its bottom such that whenthe needle is placed within the collar, the needle will pass through theaperture, and the needle will make contact with the electrodes in such away that the needle will be fully disintegrated when the power from thepower supply is allowed to flow through the electrodes.
 36. A needledisabling device as in claim 35 wherein: A. the aperture is designedsuch that many sizes of needles can be placed with the collar and theneedle will pass through the aperture and the needle will make contactwith the electrodes in such a way that the needle will be fullydisintegrated when the power from the power supply is allowed to flowthrough the electrodes
 37. A needle disabling device as in claim 8wherein: A. The power supply is a battery.
 38. A needle disabling deviceas in claim 8 wherein: A. the power supply is fully contained within thehousing.
 39. A needle disabling device as in claim 8 wherein: A. thepower supply is outside the housing.
 40. A needle disabling device as inclaim 39 further comprising: A. a second power supply is which is fullycontained within the housing
 41. A needle disabling device as in claim38 wherein: A. the power supply can be recharged from a source outsidethe housing.
 42. A needle disabling device as in claim 40 wherein: A.the second power supply can be recharged from a source outside thehousing.
 43. A needle disabling device as in claim 41 wherein: A. thepower supply is rechargeable batteries.
 44. A needle disabling device asin claim 42 wherein: A. the second power supply is rechargeablebatteries.
 45. A needle disabling device as in claim 8 furthercomprising: A. a collar that fits within the opening and said collar hasan aperture at its bottom such that when the needle is placed within thecollar, the needle will pass through the aperture, and the needle willmake contact with the electrodes in such a way that the needle will befully disintegrated when the power from the power supply is allowed toflow through the electrodes.
 46. A needle disabling device as in claim45 wherein: A. the aperture is designed such that many sizes of needlescan be placed with the collar and the needle will pass through theaperture and the needle will make contact with the electrodes in such away that the needle will be fully disintegrated when the power from thepower supply is allowed to flow through the electrodes.
 47. A needledisabling device as in claim 4 wherein: A. The power supply is abattery.
 48. A needle disabling device as in claim 6 wherein: A. saidtop electrode makes contact with the needle above a point at which thebottom electrode makes contact with the needle.
 49. A needle disablingdevice as in claim 8 wherein: A. said top electrode makes contact withthe needle above a point at which the bottom electrode makes contactwith the needle.